Chapter 55 So what exactly is our relationship now?

Roland channeled his inner force into the robot, sending the screws on its arms flying. He rained down blows like a storm, battering the machine until its circuit boards burst out.

A cloud of black smoke billowed from the robot, carrying the acrid scent of burning electronics.

"Joker, got anything else?" Roland tossed the motionless robot aside. "If not, you might as well surrender."

"Hmph..." The Joker pulled out a pair of handcuffs, snapped them onto his own wrists, and signaled his surrender.

"So cooperative?" Roland paused, then first went to cut Batman down from the cross.

"Don't let your guard down. The Joker wouldn't give up so easily," Batman warned.

"Today is April Fool's Day, after all... I wanted to give you a surprise." The Joker held out his handcuffed hands.

The next instant, his hands shot out along with the cuffs, spinning like a meteor hammer.

"The Split-Split Fruit? What kind of Joker is this, the hell?" Roland was taken aback.

However, a moment later, the Joker's real hands emerged from his sleeves, drawing two revolvers and unleashing a barrage of bullets at Roland and Batman.

The two dodged in sync. After knocking away a few of the Joker's gadgets, Batman successfully subdued and captured him.

"Oh..." The Joker looked at Batman with an expression of lingering excitement.

"By the way, let me tell you a secret: today is not April Fool's Day." Batman suddenly flashed a teasing smile.

"What?" The Joker looked bewildered.

"Well... actually, after you escaped last time, I found your hideout and conveniently adjusted the time on your computer, clock, and calendar forward by a day." Batman smiled. "Today is actually April 2nd. The day you spent frantically setting up all those traps across Gotham City was April Fool's Day."

"No!" The Joker clutched his green hair and let out a cry of agony.

"Bazinga! Happy April Fool's Day, just kidding." Batman waited a beat, then smiled at the Joker. "If I knew where you were hiding, I'd have thrown you straight into Arkham Asylum. Why would I bother doing something so boring?"

Everyone present, including the Joker, stared at Batman as if they had just seen a ghost. This guy actually knew how to joke?

Batman remained silent, locking eyes in a staring contest with the Joker.

Unable to help it, the Joker burst into laughter, a brilliant, unrestrained laugh.

"Alright, take these two to Arkham Asylum." Roland grabbed a large leather suitcase and straddled his motorcycle. "By the way, do you have any connections with the staff at Arkham?"

"I've had my dealings with them," Batman said. "Why do you ask?"

Nissan—"Could you have them put Harley in..." Roland had a hunch and wanted to run an experiment with Harley.

"...Why?" Batman asked, perplexed.

"I have a feeling it might produce some interesting chemical reactions."

"Interesting?"

"I mean, it might be beneficial for Harley's mental state."

"I'll look into it."

Driving the Batmobile, Batman transported the Joker and Harley Quinn to Arkham Asylum. Along the way, Harley tried to attack Batman and escape, but the Joker stopped her, knocking her out with a single punch.

Upon arrival at Arkham Asylum, the Joker was returned to his former cell, with his cellmate being the Riddler, who had recently been beaten up and locked away by Batman.

The two exchanged a few taunts, but the Joker was clearly in high spirits. After exchanging barely a couple of words with the Riddler, he whistled a tune and sauntered over to lie down on his own cot.

As for Harley Quinn, thanks to Batman's arrangements, she was transferred to a double cell.

"Hi there, my name is Harley Quinn!"

"Ugh, you can just call me Ivy..." Poison Ivy stared at her suddenly appearing roommate, looking somewhat startled.

After all, as one of the top-tier dangerous criminals in Arkham Asylum, she had always occupied a single cell, complete with top-level security.

That name, Harley Quinn... Where had she heard it before? Poison Ivy looked Harley up and down carefully. "Are you that little clown girl?"

"Yep, that's me!" Harley puffed out her chest proudly and began chattering endlessly about her criminal career to Poison Ivy.

"Sigh... Sounds to me like the Joker isn't your boyfriend at all," Poison Ivy frowned. "He's completely gaslighting you."

"What did you say?" Harley couldn't bear to hear such words and used her physical advantage to pin Poison Ivy to the bed.

"I said you're a fool of a girl... He keeps hurting you, don't you realize it?" Poison Ivy sighed. Secretion of toxin from her skin where she made contact with Harley quickly knocked her out cold.

"What an unfriendly beginning." Poison Ivy looked at her unconscious roommate, shook her head, and complained to a passing orderly: "Whose brilliant idea was it to lock me up with her? Weren't they worried we'd team up and break out?"

"Achoo." Roland couldn't help but sneeze.

"Boss, what's wrong?"

"Feels like someone's talking about me... Never mind, keep the party going! Drinks are on the house for everyone tonight!" Roland had set up a stage in an abandoned square right next to Gotham City, hiring a dozen chefs and bartenders. "Unlimited beer, free barbecue! Just don't take any to go... And throw that pot-smoking asshole out of here!"

"Long live Father Roland!"

"Woooo!"

"I thought it was an April Fool's joke, but they actually went through with it."

"Happy April Fool's Day!"

"By the way, honey, I once cheated on you."

"Me too."

"Ha, April Fool's..."

"Mine was on Christmas."

"Huh?"

The square was filled with joy, but a nearby gang felt quite the opposite.

"Greenbacks are being handed out like candy to the poor. What a sin!"

"Boss, they can't be giving it all away. How about we just go sweep up the cash from the people who got it later?"

"Idiots, do you think we can just rob them? That guy grilling meat is a chef from the Icehouse, and the bartender's bar belongs to the Maroni family. Even the delivery truck drivers have ties to the Ibanescu family. Rob them? Have you grown tired of living?" the gang leader hissed in a low voice.

"Then what should we do?"

"Whoever threw this party, we'll ruin them."

Roland reclined in a lounge chair, a freshly grilled mutton skewer in one hand and a glass of Martinis in the other, happily eating and drinking.

The crowd reveled through the night until the early hours of the morning, when people finally dispersed—some to work, some to school.

"I had a pretty good time today," Jason said, holding a can of cola. "I ran into a little playboy and had a great chat with him."

"Oh, what's his name?"

"Tim Drake."

"Ah." Roland paused. "It's him..."

Right then, a commotion broke out beneath the dim streetlights as several masked men armed with baseball bats and crowbars marched toward Roland.

"What kind of nonsense is this?" Roland shrugged, took on the masked men by himself, and laid them all flat on the ground in three minutes flat.

[Benevolence +90]

[Redemption +1]

Roland paused, pulling the masks off the fallen men, but found nothing out of the ordinary. Where on earth did that point of redemption come from?

Arkham Asylum.

"So, what are we to each other now?" Harley looked up and asked Ivy.

"Hush, don't ask. Just keep eating."